4003W table not flat (at a unconvenient spot)

[pinup57]

Hi everyone, I'm new here so greetings to all and thankk you Peter for soring out my registration issue.

I acquired a 2015 4003 walnut bass recently. When I bought the bass, I tested it extensively, it plays nice, ans sounds great but when I inspected it a bit closer once the initial excitement over (if that can ever go away) I noticed some weirness at the tailpiece: there's a gap between the tailpiece and the guitar's top so it doesn't lay snug and flat. I checked with a ruler and it's not the tailpiece but the top that has a "depression". The gap is wide enough for a credit card to slip in. I should have noticed this before buying, but I was so excited to finally lay my hands on a 4003 (they are very rare over here, the local store that has over 3000 guitars and basses on display has some on backorder since 2014) that I didn't notice it at first. I'm quite amazed that an instrument of this class and price has passed QC with such an issue. But the bass plays fine, action is great, sustain is great, sound is great (but I the last time I actually played a Rick was some 35 years ago so I can't really know how it should be).

What's your opinion on this? I attack some pics that hopefully show what I'm talking about.

Thanks for reading!

Dirk

[squirebass]

I've currently got 4 Ric basses, and owned a bunch more, and I don't think I've ever had one in which the tailpiece was absolutely flat with the body of the bass. I can say I've never had a moment's trouble with this issue, on any bass I've ever owned. However, there are others that have had issues with "tailpiece lift". I'll let them weigh in on the issue. Most of mine have enough lift to slide at least one credit card thru, maybe 2 cards. But like I said, never been a problem, and I've probably owned about a dozen 4001/4003/4003S/v63 models...

[Guzzitd63]

I see from the pics the issue you are referring to Dirk.
It appears that theres a huge sink-hole surrounding the mute cut.
(Almost like someone got carried away with the belt-sander.)

May I ask, where you live?
Was this sold to you as new?
Is it possible that the guitar has been refinished?

[pinup57]

Thank you both. I live in the south of France. I bought the bass pre-owned. You're right, there's some sort of sink-hole, that's the correct description and I also thought that someone got carried away with the sander. The instrument doesn't have any traces of refinishing though: it's a walnut 4003 so there's isn't any paint-job to cover post-sale woodwork. I also noted that the walnut wings are not -perfectly- flush with the maple neck on the backside, you can feel it (but not measure it with the tools I dispose of. ) Thta's less of an issue, but I feel this is sub-standard for a bass worth 2k+. The case is as-new, all the paperwork, the cloth and small tools are still in the original wrappings, and the protective plastic on the "Ric" logo is still there. As I said in my post, the playability is not affected but resale value certainly is!

[teeder]

Holy cow!
I can't believe no one noticed that before it went out the door!

Maybe it's the same "end grain" issue they had with the other basses?

[cassius987]

This is highly unusual... I've never seen another Ric like this, and I've probably seen dozens if not a hundred or more at this point, including several examples of bad tailpiece lift. Would you be willing to photograph the area underneath the tailpiece by removing it? Then maybe we can better diagnose a potential solution. That being said, I am glad it plays and sounds nice, and in that case I would not get too anxious about this.

[Guzzitd63]

Dude!
I don't know about this one.
This is a little more than some orange-peel/shrinking paint.

I don't want to be condescending but ...
Are you 100% sure you have a genuine Rickenbacker body?
It would certainly be possible to put real Rick hardware on one of those cheap imported copy.
Some of them look very convincing.
Experts here can spot a fake in a NewYorkMinute.
Likewise, it seems to me that stripped bodies are readily available at the usual places here in the ether-sphere.
What happens to all the bits that came off of these stripped bodies?

I find it difficult to believe that instrument left California looking like that.
And somehow I don't see you getting a lot of love from the shop where you bought it.
You did inspect the guitar at the shop before buying, correct?

You could always fill the sinkhole with bondo, sand it smooth and paint it black.
Play it so hard the output jack smokes.

Post some more (whole-body and detail) pics please!

[Guzzitd63]

... I am glad it plays and sounds nice, and in that case I would not get too anxious about this.

Yep. Maybe the pics make it look worse than it really is.

As I understand it ... "tail-lift syndrome" doesn't apply much here.
My 20 year old 4003 has more true tail-lift than yours and always has.
It was gifted to me new and has never changed.

[pinup57]

Hi everyone,

thanks for all the feedback. I will take the tailpiece off and take some pics, I might find some time to do that this weekend. I bought the bass from a individual seller, not in a shop. It was originally purchased from a renowned french retailer. So I'm the second owner. Sure I took those pics so that the issue is prefectly visible: it looks a bit more dramatic this close up, I admit. I didn't notice it at all when I tried the instrument before buying, but I was really too much focused on playbility and sound. But well, yes: I find it hard to believe this got through Quality Control!

[Gilmourisgod]

That's unfortunately not that uncommon, though usually the "sinkhole" is at the straplock end of the bridge, not at the mute. Some recent examples of "tail lift" turned out to be "body drop" instead. Somebody got overzealous with the sander, and it slid through QC (also unfortunately common these days). Short of sanding the whole body top flat and a refin, I don't see an obvious fix. Luckily this in an oil-finish, and the extents of it would be limited to the binding edge, so you wouldn't have to touch anything but the top. Oil finishes are stupid-easy, pretty much wipe on/wipe off with no special skills or equipment required. Taking the bridge off and putting a ruler on the body centerline will reveal the issue. There were some bent bridge castings on older basses, but they seem pretty consistent on newer models. That one doesn't look bent in the photos, but check it anyway. Looks like a genuine 4003W from what's visible, but as was said, we'd spot a fake in a nanosecond with full body photo.

[wim]

This could've been done by a previous owner. The oiled finish instruments are easy to repair without leaving visible indications of such.
There could have been a nasty stain at that spot, which someone decided to sand it out of the wood before selling.

[teeder]

I also noted that the walnut wings are not -perfectly- flush with the maple neck on the backside, you can feel it

Try to get a picture of this too.

[squirebass]

Pinup57, well, I just took a cursory look at your picture, saw the part about "tailpiece lift" and assumed you were talking about something completely different! Once I took a closer look I see the dip in the body, which I've NEVER seen before. I would hope it didn't leave the factory this way, but it sounds like an over-zealous previous owner with a belt sander fetish!

[pinup57]

Hi,

thanks everyone for your input, I really appreciate it (And a happy new year to all). I contacted the previous owner who assured me he hadn't messed with the instrument and he had bought it new. I too can't believe the instrument left the factory in this state, but I can't see why this previous ownere (a graded military) would have tried to do sanding in this particular place. I made a few more pics, they're not very good (low light and mobile phone) but I fell ill and do not have the courage to redo them. Well I guess I'll have to live with it anyway, I should have inspected the instrument better but it's not so obvious: When you're playing your right hand hides the view. It's someting you really notice when you lay the instrument down flat for changing strings.

On the last pic I took, we can see that the tailpiece is in firmly in contact with the body, we can observe the marks left by the underside of the saddle cup where the screws are. A bit more so on the offending side that on the opposite (g-string) side. I don't know how it's supposed to be, but it looks like the contact between the body and the tailpiece is made where the screws are, not at the edges of thetailpiece, so I guess there's no influence on timbre or sustain.

[teeder]

we can observe the marks left by the underside of the saddle cup where the screws are. A bit more so on the offending side that on the opposite (g-string) side

Possibly hitting harder on this side because there is less wood surface area for the TP to contact there, concentrating the contact force and denting the wood.